The Yankees may not be ready to move on from Aaron Boone, but that doesn’t mean the staff around him has to stay the same. If the organization wants to jolt the dugout and bring back some of that old Yankee feel, there are a few familiar names who make a lot of sense in coaching roles.
One obvious place to start is Brett Gardner. Few recent Yankees are held in higher regard by the fan base, and his résumé speaks for itself: a 14-year career, one All-Star selection, 44.3 bWAR, and a spot on the 2009 World Series team.
His game was built on defense and speed, exactly the kind of traits that can help clean up the kind of costly mistakes that have been dogging this team. Luis Rojas has handled third base, but the Yankees could use a fresh voice there.
Gardner has been a dream coaching candidate for years, and maybe it’s still a pipe dream for 2027, but letting Brett bang once again could light a fire under the team.
Francisco Cervelli belongs in the conversation too, and he brings something the others on this list don’t: real coaching experience. He just helped guide Italy on an impressive World Baseball Classic run, where the team opened with +8000 odds to win the tournament and still made it all the way to the semifinals before losing to eventual champion Venezuela.
Cervelli got the most out of a young group, and that matters. He was also on the Yankees’ 2009 title team, giving him a ring and plenty of credibility in pinstripes.
Across a 13-year career, he built a reputation as a smart catcher with a strong relationship with his pitchers, and that combination could make him a natural fit as bench coach. If Brad Ausmus is considered for a managerial vacancy - Astros? - this would be a seamless fit.
Then there’s Jorge Posada, who already showed he can speak the language of hitters. He worked as an assistant hitting coach for Italy during Cervelli’s WBC run, offering guidance to players like Chicago White Sox catcher Kyle Teel and Kansas City Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino.
Posada doesn’t have deep big-league coaching experience, but the pedigree is impossible to ignore. The four-time champion and five-time Louisville Slugger Silver Slugger Award winner spent 17 seasons in the Bronx and posted a .273/.374/.474 career slash line.
With young bats like George Lombard Jr. and Spencer Jones in the system, he’d bring instant credibility as a hitting coach and a strong mentor for the next wave.
Boone appears set to remain in place for now, especially after the Yankees’ ALDS series loss to the Tampa Bay Rays. If that’s the case, reshaping the coaching staff with former players who know the organization and understand what it means to wear the uniform may be the clearest way to change the feel around the team.
In Other News...
Yankees May Have Finally Found A Ryan McMahon Trade Path
Ryan McMahons first Yankees season did not go the way anyone in the organization imagined. He struggled at third base both at the plate and in the field, and with one year left on his contract, the Yankees are already being pushed to think about what comes next rather than waiting for the fit to improve on its own. If they are going to move him, they will need a partner willing to take on a short-term answer at the hot corner, which narrows the field quickly.
The Cardinals may offer that kind of opening, since they have shown interest in a short-term third baseman. That does not mean a deal is close, but it does give the Yankees a plausible trade path if they decide to move on from McMahon, and any discussion would likely center on whether a return piece such as catcher Pedro Pages could be part of the conversation. For now, it is still mostly a framework for a deal rather than a finished one, but it is at least the sort of framework New York has been looking for. [Read more 🡒]
Jazz Chisholms Old Feud Just Gave Yankees Fans Another Reason To React
Jazz Chisholm Jr. has dragged an old clubhouse grievance back into the spotlight, saying Miguel Rojas once destroyed his custom cleats during their shared time with the Miami Marlins as part of hazing. Rojas has since addressed the allegation without exactly disputing it, saying he would rather keep those kinds of matters private. It is the sort of off-field dustup that still has a way of following players long after they leave the same room.
Now Rojas has given Yankees fans another reason to take notice after showing up in custom cleats celebrating the Dodgers back-to-back championships and nodding toward a possible third straight title. For a New York fan base that is always watching the other contenders, and especially one with Chisholm now in pinstripes, the timing adds a little extra edge to a relationship that already carried some baggage. [Read more 🡒]
Yankees Once Had A Future Brewers October Threat In Their Hands
Jake Bauers was one of those low-key Yankees acquisitions that looked more like a depth move than a long-term piece, but he made enough noise in 2023 to get noticed. After a strong start in Triple-A, he brought some power and patience to the plate in pinstripes, giving New York a useful left-handed bat before the club moved on from him the following offseason.
The Yankees sent Bauers to Milwaukee in a trade for Brian Sanchez and Jace Avina, and the Brewers have since gotten the better end of the deal in the short term. Bauers has fit well in Milwaukee and even chipped in during the 2024 National League Championship Series, with a free-agent decision looming next and a reminder that a player New York once had in hand could end up mattering on a bigger October stage. [Read more 🡒]